Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir with his French counterpart at a press conference in Riyadh. (SPA)

Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said on Tuesday that Riyadh’s position on Syria had not changed, insisting that President Bashar Assad had no future in Syria.

“There is no change … From the beginning of the crisis, the position of the Kingdom is that Bashar is the problem in Syria. He killed hundreds of thousands of his people, displaced millions and destroyed the country as a whole. He has no future in Syria.”

Speaking at a joint news conference with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Al-Jubeir also said that it was up to Yemen’s Iranian-allied Houthi group and former Yemen President Ali Abdullah Saleh to bring an end to the war in that country.

“They are the ones who started this and they are the ones who continue this. We believe that the political process is the better option and that the Houthis and Saleh forces should avail themselves of this opportunity and reach a settlement,” he said.

“The coalition has achieved success in reversing the gains by Houthi-Saleh forces in Yemen,” and now is the time for a political process to begin based on Resolution 2216, Al-Jubeir said. He also said that denying Iran’s support for the Houthis is “like saying the sun does not rise from the East.” He added: “Iran’s involvement in the affairs of other states represents a regional problem.”

Fabius, in remarks translated into Arabic, called on Russia to use its influence to stop Assad from using barrel bombs in Syria and said Paris wanted to ensure that Syrian institutions would remain strong and did not want to see any further chaos in the country.

Fabius said France supported efforts toward a political solution but needed “all parties” to agree to talks.

Al-Jubeir said Riyadh and Paris have similarity of views on all issues of mutual concern.

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